Adjustable cutter for tube-ice machines



Nov. 9, 1948. KUBAUGH 2,453,140

ADJUSTABLE CUTTER FOR TUBE-ICE MACHINES Fi led D60. 28, 1943 Elam/Watented i=1 9, 1948 ADJUSTABLE CUTTER FOR TUBE-ECE MACHINES Benjamin F.Kubaugh, Louisville, Ky., assignor to Henry Vogt Machine Co. Inc.,Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Application December 28,1943,- Serial No. 515,955

Claims.

This invention relates to a rotary ice cutter designed to be used with atube-ice machine such as is disclosed in Kubaugh Patent No. 2,239,234,granted April 22, 1941, in which ice in cylindrical form is manufacturedin a bundle of upright externally refrigerated tubes by the flow ofwater through said tubes, the ice forming by accretion on the innerwalls of the tubes, the thickness of the ice being dependent upon thelength of the freezing period. At the end of the freezing period the icecylinders are thawed so as to break their adherence to the walls of thetubes and slide gravitationally from the lower ends of said tubes intoengagement with a support above which a revolving knife progressivelysevers the ice cylinders into small units or pieces.

Two commercial forms of ice may be produced by the machine, cylindricalice cubes" or crushed ice." To produce cylindrical pieces, the

ice cylinders are frozen with thick walls and the knife is set at arelatively great distance from the support. For crushed ice, the wallsarefrozen thin and the knife should operate relatively close to thesupport. In the said Kubaugh patent the knife of the cutter is at afixed distance from the supporting plate, for example, two inches, sothat the machine, as illustrated will make sized cylindrical ice cubes."but not crushed ice. To produce crushed ice the ice cylinders must befrozen in a separate unit having the knife set close to the supportingplate.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an icecutterwhich may be adjusted to selectively produce either relatively long orrelatively short pieces whereby either cylindrical ice cubes or crushedice may be manufactured b In the drawing which accompanies and forms apart of the following specification, and throughout the several figuresof which the same reference characters have been employed to designateidentical parts:

Figure 1 is a vertical diametrical section through an ice cutter,embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view, partlyin section, and

showing part of the floating disc cut away to disclose the partsbeneath;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken along the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken along the line 5-.-5 of Figure 2;and

Figure 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 5-6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 5, showing the plate adjusted atlow level.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral 1 representsin general the lower part of a tube ice machine such as that'disclosedin the aforementioned Kubaugh patent, comprising a casing 2 forming arefrigerant chamber through which pass a plurality of verticallyarranged tubes '3. Water flows downwardly through the tubes,

ice freezing by accretion against the inner walls of the tubes, andforming ice cylinders, the thickness of the walls of which depends upont e en t of the freezing period. At the end of the freezing period thesuriace of the ice cylinders is thawed so as to break their adherencewith the walls of the tubes 3 by means of hot gaseous refrigerantadmitted to the chamber 2. The portions or the ice cylinders protrudingbelow the plate 4 which defines the bottom of the refrigerant chamberare freed from adhesion with the ends of the tubes by thawing wateradmitted to a chamber 5, surrounding the nozzles l at the lower end ofthe tubes 3. The orifices of said nozzles are of the same diameter asthe interior of the pipes 3, to. permit the passage of the freed icecylinders which slide downward by gravity.

The cutter of the subject invent-ion comprises a driven memberconsisting of a hub 9 fixed to a drive shaft 10, a rim i5 coaxial withthe hub, and a disk-like partition 8 connecting the rim and hub. .Thepartition it extends less than 360 about the axis of the hub. havingparallel end edges that terminate in spaced vertical planes defining aslot l3.

The partition 8 has a vertical shoulder 12, defining it into a smallsector II at relatively high level terminating at one side of the slotl3, and a large sector Ila at a relatively low level. Thus the slot l3has a high edge. and a low edge. The top of the rim is in a plane higherthan the level of both sectors. A knife I is secured to the high sectorll, its cutting edge projecting slightly beyond the high edge of .theslot.

The vertical shoulder i2, the lower sector Ila,

and the part of the rim I! that bounds that sec- 7 tor, define a flooredrecess which freely receives a floating plate It substantially congruentwith the lower sector, maintained horizontal, and capable of beingadjustably moved to difierent levels below the horizontal plane of thecutting edge of the knife I l.

The floating plate It is kept from angular displacement in the directionof the slot, by means such as an indent ll in the floating plate whichslidably embraces a vertical feather lii in the rim.

The ice cylinders, simultaneously detached by thawing, from the icemachine, rest endwise upon the high sector ii of the partition d, andupon the floating plate it. For'the purpose of draining the thawingwater both the partition 8 and I form sized cylindrical pieces, thefloating plate should be in a relatively low position with respect tothe plane of the path of the knife, and to form crushed ice it should berelatively close to the path of the knife. The subject invention,therefore, provides an adjustment for the height of the floating platewith respect to the plane of the knife blade. 7

Any form of adjustment is within the purview of the invention, buttheone herein disclosed is simple and eflective. It comprises a pluralityof pairs of cams 20, the pairs being angularly displaced from oneanother at optimum inter-' vals to support the floating plate in ahorizontal position; The cams are preferably in the form of isoscelestriangles having a relatively narrow flat base and relatively long flatsides, and having rounded corners. Each pair of cams is fixed in spacedrelation on a shaft 2! radially arranged.

The ends of the shafts preferably terminate in apertures 22 in theflange i5 and have polygonal ends which are accessible to a suitabletool .by'

means of which the shafts may be turned either to set the cams uprighton their narrow base, or to lay them down on one of their longer sides.In either position, the floating plate rests upon the cams. Since theperpendicular distance from the axis of the shaft to any of the sides isless than the distance from the' axis of the shaft to the corners, it isobvious that in turningthecams fromerect to supine position the shaftmust rise, consequently, the shafts are mounted in bearings which permitsuch vertical movement. These bearings, asshown, consist simply of shortvertical pins 23 in spaced inner and outer pairs, between which theshafts are positioned. The apertures 22, if circular, should be largeenough to permit the vertical rise of the shafts 2!, or may be ovalizedin a vertical direction. The bearings, as shown, are placed close toadjacent faces of the cams to prevent any material longitudinal shiftingof the shafts2 l When the floating plate i6 is supported upon the camsin upright position, as illustrated in Figure 1, it is close to theplane of the path of the knife H and in position to cut small lengthsfrom the bottom ends of the ice cylinders in the making of crushed ice.When the cams 20 are turned down, the floating plate I be at a lowerlevel and longer pieces of the ice cylinders will be cut ofl. 7

As has been suggested, in the making of sized ice cylinders it isdesirable to have as little shat tering of the ice as possible, and withthis end in view the knife Id is provided with a sharp edge 24, as shownin Figure 4. When the floating plate 85 is in its low position, theknife blade Id should ,be oriented with its sharp edge 2% in leadingposition. When crushed ice is to be produced, the maximum of shtteringeflect is desired. The knife blade M is therefore provided with a bluntedge 25 which should be arranged in leading position when the floatingplate i6 is in elevated position. The knife blade is provided withahandle 26 having a shank 27 secured to the middle of the. knife blade,and which may be turned to reverse position of the knife blade to bringeither its sharp or blunt edges into leading position with respect tothe direction of rotation of the cutter. When in either of thesepositions, the knife blade is secured by means of cap screws 28, passingthrough holes in the underlyingface of the sector H and screwed into theknife blade. The handle 28 is preferably formed with a sharp end 29 anda blunt end 30 arranged to correspond in direction with the respectivesharp and blunt edges of the knife blade so that simply by observing theposition of the handle one may know which edge oftthe blade is in activeposition.

- Sections or fragments of ice severed by the knife blade drop throughtheslot l8 into the underlying portion 3| of the ice machine, where theyare collected.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a.preferred'and practical embodiment of the invention, it will beunderstood to'those skilled in the art that the details of constructionand the arrangement of parts as shown and described are by way ofexample, and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the inventionas defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Rotary ice cutter for severing the lower end portions of a pluralityof freely descendable laterally immovable parallel ice cylinders,comprising a partition having a radial slot and having ice cylindersupporting portions at two levels, terminating in the respective edgesof said slot, a knife secured to the higher'edge comprising a reversibleblade having its opposite edges respectively sharp and blunt, and ahandle secured to said blade extending downwardly through an aperture inthe portion of said disk at higher level for rotating said blade tobring either of its edges into active position. I

2 Rotary ice cutter as claimed in claim 1, said handle having a crosspiece with pointed and blunt opposite ends correspondingly oriented withrespect to the blade edges, to serve as an indicator of the position ofsaid blade;

3. Rotary cutter for severing the lower end portions of a plurality offreely descendable lat-' erally immovable parallel ice cylinders,comprising a rotary driven member including a rim and a substantiallyhorizontal partition circumscribed by said rim and secured thereto, saidpartition extending less than 360 about the inner circumference of saidrim, having its ends terminating in spaced vertical planes defining aslot, said partition having a. vertical shoulder intermediate itscircumferential extent dividing said partitions into a small sector atrelatively high level and a large sector at relatively low level,whereby the opposite sides of said slot are at said respective levels, aknife secured to the high sector projecting slightly beyond the highedge of said slot, the top of said rim being at a, higher level thanboth of said sectors, said shoulder, the lower sector of said partition,and the portion of the rim that bounds said lower sector defining arecess, a plate substantially congruent with said recess freely floatingin a vertical direction therein, and means beneath said plateforsupporting it horizontally and adiustably varying its level below theplane of rotation of said knife, said supporting and adjusting meanscomprising radial shafts rotatably mounted at spaced intervals on saidlower sector, and cams on said shafts, said cams having adjacent 'shortand long flat sides adapted to serve alternatively as bases of supportfor said cams on said lower sector, and having long and short altitudescorresponding to the respective short and long bases, the correspondingdimensions of said cams being the same, said cams being positioned byrotation of said shaft to bring the parts of the corresponding long orshort dimensions into supporting relation to said floating plate.

4. Rotary cutter for severing the lower end portions of a plurality offreely descendable laterally immovable parallel ice cylinders,comprising a rotary driven member including a rim and a substantiallyhorizontal partition circumscribed by said rim and secured thereto, saidpartition extending less than 360' about the inner circumference of saidrim, having its ends terminating in spaced vertical planes defining aslot, said partition having a vertical shoulder intermediate itscircumferential extent dividing said partitions into a small sector atrelatively high level and a large sector at relatively low level,whereby the opposite sides of said slot are at said respective levels, aknife secured to the high sector projecting slightly beyond the highedge of said slot, the top of said rim being at a higher level than bothof said sectors, said shoulder, the lower sector of said partition, andthe portion of the rim' that bounds said lower sector defining a recess,a plate substantially congruent with said recess freely floating in avertical direction therein, and means beneath said plate for supportingit horizontally and adiustably varying its level below the plane ofrotation of said knife, said supporting and adlusting means comprisingradial shafts rotatably mounted at spaced intervals on said lowersector, and cams on said shafts, said cams having-adiacent short andlong fiat sides adapted to serve alternatively as bases of support forsaid cams on said lower sector, and having long and short altitudescorresponding to the respective short and long bases, the correspondingdimensions of said corresponding long or by said rim and securedthereto,'said partition,

cams being the same, said cams being positioned by rotation of saidshaft to bring the parts of the short dimensions into supportingrelation to said floating plate, and vertically open bearings on saidlower sector in which said cam shafts are journaled. 5. Rotary cutterfor severing the lower end portions of a plurality of freely descendablelaterally immovable parallel ice cylinderscomprising a rotary drivenmember including a rim and a substantially horizontal partitioncircumscribed extending less than 360 about the' inner circumference ofsaid rim, having its ends terminating in spaced vertical planes defininga slot, said partition having a vertical shoulder intermediate itscircumferential extent dividing said partitions i in, and means beneathsaid plate for porting and into a small sector at relatively high leveland a large sector at relatively low level, whereby the opposite sidesof said slot areat said'respective levels, a knife secured to the highsector projecting slightly beyond the high edge of said slot, the top ofsaid rim being at a higher level than both of said sectors, saidshoulder, the lower sector of said partition, and the portion of the rimthat bounds said lower sector defining a recess, a plate substantiallycongruent with said recess freely floating in a vertical directionthere- 7 supportin it horizontally and adiustably varying its levelbelow the plane of rotation of said knife, said supadjusting meanscomprising radial shafts rotatably mounted on said lower sector, andcams on said shafts, saidcams having adjacent short and long flat sidesadapted to serve a1- t'ernatively as bases of support for said cams onsaid lower sector, and having long and short altitudes'correspondingtothe respective short and long bases, the corresponding dimensions ofsaid cams being the same, said cams being positioned by rotation of saidshafts to bring the parts of corresponding long or short dimensions intosupporting relation to said floating plate, said rim having holestherethrough in alignment with said cam shafts for the insertion of atool for turning said cam shafts.

BENJAMIN 1". KUBAUGH.

REFERENCES CITED .The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,303,617 Tuck -M8y 13, 19191,543,343 sivertsen June 23, 1925 1,577,611 Pieifer Oct. 20, 19251,676,241 Ayars' July 10, 1928 2,239,234 Kubaugh Apr. 22, 1941

